South African newcomer Jonathan Trott marched into the Frizzell County Championship with a maiden century in Warwickshire?s First Division clash with Sussex at Edgbaston.

The 22-year-old from Cape Town turned the clock back to Brian Lara?s golden summer by becoming the first player to score a debut hundred for the county since the West Indies legend made 147 against Glamorgan in

English-qualified Trott compiled a dashing 134 from 178 balls until

becoming one of Mushtaq Ahmed?s six victims in an exceptionally heavy first-day work load for the Pakistan wrist-spinner.

Mushtaq joined the attack after only 45 minutes and reeled off 44 overs to finish with 6-131 as Warwickshire recovered a middle order slump to close at 350-9.

The honours still belonged to Trott after reaching his second debut milestone for Warwickshire. In a one-off trial appearance last summer, when he was playing in Holland for the HBS club in The Hague, he made 245 in a Second XI Championship

1994. match against Somerset.

Originally recommended by fast bowler Neil Carter, a former team-mate with Boland, he accepted a two-year contract and bowed out of South African cricket with Western Province.

He said: ?Warwickshire are the only county I wanted to play for. Allan Donald was one of my heroes and because of him and Shaun Pollock, people in South Africa take an interest in Warwickshire.?

His first opportunity in the

County Championship was due to an injury to Nick Knight, who is expected to be out for ?two to three weeks? after undergoing knee surgery on Thursday.

Trott, a distant relative of Victorian era Test players Albert and Harry Trott, started with a spate of boundaries and carried on in this groove through successive partnerships of 86 with Tony Frost (37) and 108 with Mark Wagh (43).

A second 50 in 48 balls took him to his century in the fourth over after lunch and in all he hit 17 fours and two sixes before he succumbed to the wiles of Mushtaq and gave a catch to silly point.

He added: ?We have a lot of good batsmen here - three of the top five are capable of playing for England - and I knew I had to take my chance.

?In South Africa I made 93 twice and I was beginning to wonder when a century was going to happen.?

Sussex?s seamers were knocked out of their stride by Trott?s confidence, and though James Kirtley eventually disturbed Frost?s off-stump, they were indebted to Mushtaq for a more profitable second session.